Avalanche & NHL

Avs-Wild Game 4: Colorado loses 2-1; playoff series at 2 games apiece

ST. PAUL, Minn. — You'd look at the shot tally, and every few moments it would tick up one more on the Minnesota Wild's side. You'd look at the Avalanche's side, and it seemed frozen in time. But there was no computer glitch on the scoreboard at the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night.

The loneliest job of the night in the building had to be the person responsible for changing the Avs' shot totals. If not for a soft goal allowed by Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper in the second period, the Avs would have been shut out for a second consecutive game. The Avs were thoroughly outplayed again in losing 2-1 to the Wild, which evened the best-of-seven series at two victories apiece.

"I thought we were ready for the game," Wild captain Mikko Koivu said. "It's not easy after an emotional Game 3. I thought we did a good job preparing for this, and we recognized we were in the same situation. Good win for us and now we move on to Game 5, and we're going to do the little things better on the road."

Game 5 is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Pepsi Center.

"They were the hungrier team," Avs forward Paul Stastny said. "They were the more desperate team. But we'll be excited to go back home now, where we know our fans will be loud and we'll regroup."

The Avs tied the franchise record for fewest shots in a playoff game, with the mark of 12 set June 2, 2001, in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the New Jersey Devils. The Avs lost that game behind Patrick Roy. The team Roy is coaching now never seemed to have a shot in this one.

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Hard as it sounds for a team that was outshot 22-8 in the first period of Game 3, the first 20 minutes in Game 4 were even worse for the Avs. The Avs got three shots on net — with only one coming at even strength. The Avs showed no hunger for the puck, mostly playing on their heels and watching Minnesota do what it wanted.

"We just need to be involved," Roy said. "We need to make those plays. Hey, if you put a puck on net, it's possible you'll have to take a bodycheck. Our shots need to hit the net.

"We have to force their goalie to make the saves, and then our confidence will be coming back. Our execution is not there. We seem to be rushing plays."

Only Semyon Varlamov kept this one from being a blowout. He stopped 13-of-14 shots in the first period, the one he didn't being a goal by Jared Spurgeon at 3:47. The Avs were caught chasing the puck before the goal, and Spurgeon had time and space to get a good shot.

The Avs played a little better — accent on little — in the second, and finally put a shot past Kuemper at 13:25. Ryan O'Reilly scored the fortunate goal, a long bouncer from the right circle that found its way through the five-hole of Kuemper.

"We've got to do more to get some goals," O'Reilly said. "I know myself, I've got to work harder, use my body more and go to the net. They're doing a good job on us right now defensively, but we can be better than that."

O'Reilly's goal cut the Wild lead to 2-1. Minnesota took the 2-0 lead on a power play at 12:55, getting a lucky bounce in the process. A shot from the right circle from Jason Pominville went wide off the glass behind the net, but the puck hit a metal dividing rod and took a bounce backward to the front of the net, where Charlie Coyle put home the puck.

The Avs had four shots on net in the second period for a two-period total of seven. Minnesota had 25. For the two games in Minnesota, the Wild outshot Colorado 78-34.

"We've got to be better getting the puck out of our zone," Stastny said. "The (defense) needs to be better, and the forwards need to be better coming back and taking it out of the zone. Otherwise, they get it and just shove it right back down our throat."

The area of biggest concern for the Avs — again — was the power play. The Avs couldn't get a sniff on Kuemper on any of their power plays. The best scoring chance on any was a near breakaway for Minnesota's Matt Moulson. None of the Avs' top players could forge anything close to a good scoring chance on the power play.

Avalanche forward Cody McLeod and Wild defenseman Marco Scandella collide near the boards during the first period. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

The Avs had a power-play chance early in the third period, down only 2-1. But they didn't get a shot on net in the full two minutes.

Three stars

Young Minnesota forward was on his toes when a funny bounce landed in a scoring area, and he capitalized with a goal.

Semyon Varlamov

Avs goalie again was outstanding, stopping 30-of-32 shots. He's single-handedly kept the Avs in the past two games.

Jared Spurgeon

Got the first goal at 3:47 to get the crowd into a frenzy. It was the fastest goal in a home playoff game in Wild history.

Roy, Roy, Roy

A daily sampling of Avalanche coach Patrick Roy during his team's playoff run:

Roy conducted his morning skate news conference before his team took the ice, perhaps so he could keep his skates on and play a game of shinny with old Avalanche pals Joe Sakic and Adam Foote. The star-studded trio and other members of the Avs played shinny Tuesday at the Xcel Energy Center and a rematch was rumored to be in the works. At the end of the team skate, Roy smiled at Sakic and Avs owner Josh Kroenke and general manager Greg Sherman, who were in the stands, and tried to lift a puck to them over the glass. It didn't clear the boards. Roy then winked at the executives in the stands while probably thinking he was bound to shoot better during shinny.

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